This invention relates generally to vehicular loading and unloading structure. It particularly relates to devices providing pedestrian or cargo entrance to, or egress from, an aircraft. It is most particularly directed to mechanized hallways providing an enclosed pedestrian passageway access from a building, such as an airport terminal, to an airplane access door or port.
Passenger boarding bridges are typically provided to transfer passengers from a centrally located airport terminal to aircraft. An above ground floor of a modem terminal provides distributed gathering locations for passengers of different aircraft. Such gathering locations are typically constructed at approximately the elevation of an aircraft. Elevated passenger boarding passageways are provided from a terminal exit opening to an aircraft access door. Such passageways minimize the climbing or descending required for a passenger to board an aircraft.
The elevation of the passageway separates the boarding process from baggage loading and unloading, which occurs primarily at ground level. Passageways are generally enclosed to provide climate control and protection from inclement weather. Enclosures also increase safety by keeping pedestrians on the boarding ramp, and shielding pedestrians from moving aircraft structure.
Passenger boarding ramps generally have the capability to increase in length to span a variable distance from a terminal to a parked aircraft. A discharge end of such a boarding ramp may also be capable of transverse movement to increase the range of aircraft service positions. A pivot cab is generally provided at the discharge end of a boarding ramp to align structure for engagement of an aircraft to aircraft having variable alignment with the boarding ramp. Examples of extendable passageways having pivot cabs are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos.: 2,688,762; 2,700,169; 2,875,457; and 3,038,185.
Commercially available pivot cabs suffer certain inefficiencies. They provide a pivoting rotation of the cab about an axis located approximately on a centerline of the aircraft interface end of a passageway. This pivot location requires complicated and heavy assemblies for the construction of a pivot cab. One commercially available embodiment has rigid overlapping walls arranged in a circular configuration. Such a pivot cab has a range of allowable pivot angles limited by the length of overlapped walls, and relative sizes of exterior and interior openings. A typical total included pivot angle between a first and second extreme rotation afforded by a cab of this design might be 20 degrees.
A second commercially available pivot cab design has more rotation capability. In this design, an adjustable wall is provided on either side of an aircraft access opening. Rotation of such a pivot cab expands one wall while the other wall is simultaneously retracted. While affording increased rotation capability, such a pivot cab still suffers from heavy assemblies used in its construction. Also, the right exterior profile of the central pivot design presents obstructions which may interfere with propellers and spinners for commercial aircraft.
The present invention provides an apparatus for engaging one end of an access passageway with an aircraft access port. The invention may find application in: passenger boarding bridges, mobile aircraft service vehicles, aircraft service corridors, and mobile aircraft boarding lounges. The invention includes a pivot cab for association with an open end of a passageway. A pivot cab of this invention includes a pivot structure generally associated with a side-wall of the passageway. The pivot structure location, being out of registration with a center of the passageway, causes an unsymmetric rotation of the pivot cab about the passage opening. The passageway may be enclosed, or may simply include a sidewalk, bridge, or gangplank. A first end of a pivot cab is in open communication with the passageway. Structure of a pivot cab defines a volume bounded by a roof, a first panel, a floor, and an adjustable wall. In certain preferred embodiments, the volume enclosed by a pivot cab is also defined by a second panel. The first panel, preferably comprising a window to provide an operator a range of view, is rotatably secured to the pivot structure. Preferred embodiments will have an operator console cooperatively configured and arranged with the first panel to form an operator station being substantially to a side and out of the flow of traffic through the passageway. A second end of the pivot cab is in open communication with interface structure constructed and arranged to engage an aircraft. In general, a weather barrier comprising a doorway and a dividing panel will be provided to seal the passageway when an aircraft is not in engagement with the second end of the pivot cab. It is preferred for the dividing panel to comprise a window for improved operator field of view. A pivot cab according to principles of the present invention may have an included pivot angle capability of approximately 135 degrees between a first and a second rotation orientation. The maximum included angle of rotation for an embodiment of this invention approaches 270 degrees.
In practice at most modern airports, a total included pivot angle of 15 to 20 degrees is sufficient for an embodiment of a pivot cab. Particularly under such low articulation conditions, a configuration comprising one or more rigid panel elements may suffice as an adjustable wall. A suitable rigid panel configuration includes a plurality of overlapping adjacent panel members having a common curvature and disposed for transverse motion relative each other. The transverse motion would, of course, be in a direction to extend or retract the adjustable wall. An alternative adjustable wall may include a plurality of individual panels being interconnected and disposed to assume the shape of underlying support structure. Such an adjustable wall may be deployed from a rolled-up storage configuration. An adjustable wall may also include a curtain manufactured from a suitable fabric or other material. In certain embodiments include curtain walls, the adjustable wall may be stored in a rolled-up configuration within a housing. In other embodiments, the adjustable wall may be stored within, or adjacent, a storage wall panel by a relatively linear retraction, similar to either a hand-held fan or a pocket door. Such a storage wall panel may include structure associated with either a passageway side-wall or a pivot cab enclosing panel.